CALL FOR PAPERS

IR 7.0: INTERNET CONVERGENCES
International and Interdisciplinary Conference of the Association of
Internet Researchers

Brisbane, Australia
28-30 September 2006

Pre-Conference Workshops: 27 September 2006

INTERNET CONVERGENCES

The Internet works as an arena of convergence. Physically dispersed and
marginalized people (re)find themselves online for the sake of sustaining
and extending community. International and interdisciplinary teams now
collaborate in new ways. Diverse cultures engage one another via CMC. These
technologies relocate and refocus capital, labor and immigration, and they
open up new possibilities for political, potentially democratizing, forms of
discourse. Moreover, these technologies themselves converge in multiple
ways, e.g. in Internet-enabled mobile phones, in Internet-based telephony,
and in computers themselves as "digital appliances" that conjoin
communication and multiple media forms. These technologies also facilitate
fragmentations with greater disparities between the information-haves and
have-nots, between winners and losers in the shifting labor and capital
markets, and between individuals and communities. Additionally these
technologies facilitate information filtering that reinforces, rather than
dialogically challenges, narrow and extreme views.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Our conference theme invites papers and presentations based on empirical
research, theoretical analysis and everything in between that explore the
multiple ways the Internet acts in both converging and fragmenting ways -
physical, cultural, technological, political, social - on local, regional,
and global scales.

Without limiting possible proposals, topics of interest include:

- Theoretical and practical models of the Internet
- Internet convergence, divergence and fragmentation
- Networked flows of information, capital, labor, etc.
- Migrations and diasporas online
- Identity, community and global communication
- Regulation and control (national and global)
- Internet-based development and other economic issues
- Digital art and aesthetics
- Games and gaming on the Internet
- The Net generation
- E-Sectors, e.g. e-health, e-education, e-business

We call for papers, panel proposals, and presentations from any discipline,
methodology, and community that address the theme of Internet Convergence.
We particularly call for innovative, exciting, and unexpected takes on and
interrogations of the conference theme. However, we always welcome
submissions on any topics that address social, cultural, political,
economic, and/or aesthetic aspects of the Internet and related Internet
technologies. We are equally interested in interdisciplinary proposals as
well as proposals from within specific disciplines.

SUBMISSIONS

We seek proposals for several different kinds of contributions. We welcome
proposals for traditional academic conference papers, but we also encourage
proposals for creative or aesthetic presentations that are distinct from a
traditional written 'paper'. We welcome proposals for roundtable sessions
that will focus on discussion and interaction among conference delegates,
and we also welcome organized panel proposals that present a coherent group
of papers on a single theme.

This year AoIR will also be using an alternative presentation format in
which a dozen or so participants who wish to present a short overview of
their work to stimulate debate will gather together in a plenary session
involving short presentations (no more than 5 minutes) and extended
discussion. All papers and presentations in this session will be reviewed in
the normal manner. Further information will be available via the conference
submission website.

- PAPERS (individual or multi-author) - submit abstract of 500-750 words

- SHORT PRESENTATIONS - submit abstract of 500-750 words

- CREATIVE OR AESTHETIC PRESENTATIONS - submit abstract of 500-750 words

- PANELS - submit a 250-500 word description of the panel theme (and
abstracts of the distinct papers or presentations)

- ROUNDTABLE PROPOSALS - submit a 250-500 word statement indicating the
nature of the roundtable discussion and interaction.

Papers, presentations and panels will be selected from the submitted
proposals on the basis of multiple blind peer review, coordinated and
overseen by the Program Chair. Each person is invited to submit a proposal
for 1 paper or 1 presentation. People may also propose a panel of papers or
presentations, of which their personal paper or presentation must be a part.
You may submit an additional paper/presentation of which you are the
co-author as long as you are not presenting twice. You may submit a
roundtable proposal as well.

Detailed information about submission and review is available at the
conference submission website http://conferences.aoir.org. All proposals
must be submitted electronically through this site.

PUBLICATION OF PAPERS

All papers presented at the conference are eligible for publication in the
Internet Research Annual, on the basis of competitive selection and review
of full papers. Additionally, several publishing opportunities are expected
to be available through journals, again based on peer-review of full papers.
Details on the website.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Graduate students are strongly encouraged to submit proposals. Any student
paper is eligible for consideration for the AoIR graduate student award.
Students wishing to be a candidate for the Student Award must also send a
final paper by 31 July 2006.

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

Prior to the conference, there will be a limited number of pre-conference
workshops which will provide participants with in-depth, hands-on and/or
creative opportunities. We invite proposals for these pre-conference
workshops. Local presenters are encouraged to propose workshops that will
invite visiting researchers into their labs or studios or locales. Proposals
should be no more than 1000 words, and should clearly outline the purpose,
methodology, structure, costs, equipment and minimal attendance required, as
well as explaining its relevance to the conference as a whole. Proposals
will be accepted if they demonstrate that the workshop will add
significantly to the overall program in terms of thematic depth, hands on
experience, or local opportunities for scholarly or artistic connections.
These proposals and all inquires regarding pre-conference proposals should
be submitted as soon as possible to the Conference Chair and no later than
31 March 2006.

DEADLINES

Submission site available: 1 December 2005

Final date for proposal submission: 7 February 2006

Presenter notification: 21 March 2006

Final workshop submission deadline: 31 March 2006

Submission of paper for publication/student award: 31 July 2006

Submission of paper for conference archive: 30 September 2006

CONTACT INFORMATION

Program Chair: Dr Fay Sudweeks, Murdoch University, Australia,
sudweeks_at_murdoch.edu.au

Conference Chair: Dr Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology,
Australia, a.bruns_at_qut.edu.au

President of AoIR: Dr Matthew Allen, Curtin University of Technology,
Australia m.allen_at_curtin.edu.au

Association Website: http://www.aoir.org

Conference Website: http://conferences.aoir.org (from 1 December)

--Dr Axel Bruns a.bruns@qut.edu.au - http://snurb.info/Media & Communication Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove, Qld. 4059, AustraliaCreative Industries Faculty Z2-202, CIP - (07) 3864 5548Queensland University of Technology CRICOS No.: 00213J ========================================================== From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP_at_english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://cfp.english.upenn.edu or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu ==========================================================Received on Mon Dec 05 2005 - 13:14:39 EST